Final answer:
In a decision-making problem with 40 possible outcomes and 5 decision alternatives, there are 200 states of nature.
Step-by-step explanation:
The number of states of nature in a decision-making problem can be determined by considering the number of possible outcomes and the number of decision alternatives. In this case, there are 40 possible outcomes and 5 decision alternatives. Each decision alternative can be associated with each possible outcome, resulting in a total of 200 (40 x 5) states of nature.